一 words and expressions

1. Now I’m saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the reader is tagging along.

gnaw: to make you feel worried or uncomfortable使烦恼；折磨. 它的另一个常见的意思咬，啮，啃

tag along：to go somewhere with someone, especially when they have not asked you to go with them〔尤指未经邀请〕跟随，尾随

2. or feels an affinity for your sense of humor or your vision of life

affinity：a strong feeling that you like and understand someone or something喜好，喜爱

3. their style is the tip-off that they have turned into garrulous bores.

garrulous,我们常说的喋喋不休可以用这个词

4. The war has deified her and she is the darling of the home front

deify的意思是崇拜，把。。。奉为神明

5. I had my old friends in town to reckon with, most of whom regarded the hen as a comic prop straight out of vaudeville....

prop：a small object such as a book, weapon etc, used by actors in a play or film〔戏剧或电影中的〕道具

6. To a man who keeps hens, all poultry lore is exciting and endlessly fascinating.

poultry：家禽

lore：〔口头流传的关于某一主题的〕知识; 传说

7. But mainly what I like is that this is a man telling me unabashedly about a love affair with poultry that goes back to 1907.

unabashed：not ashamed or embarrassed, especially when doing something unusual or rude不害臊的，不怕羞的; 满不在乎的

8. Or take a writer who is almost White’s opposite in terms of style, who relishes the opulent word for its opulence and doesn’t deify the simple sentence.

opulent：华丽的，豪华的，奢侈的。这里形容辞藻的堆砌。

9. This is H. L. Mencken reporting on the notorious “Monkey Trial”

notorious：名声坏的，书里还出现了一个同义的词：flagrant

10. the rest had to take orders for mail-order pantaloons or work in the adjacent strawberry fields

adjacent：a room, building, piece of land etc that is adjacent to something is next to it邻近的，毗连的

11. They were all hot for Genesis, but their faces were too florid to belong to teetotalers

teetotal：someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol滴酒不沾的，文章出现的是它的名词teetotaler

12. Mencken was never timid or evasive

evasive 可以形容一个人爱推卸责任

13. a mixture of cheap words, made-up words and clichés that have become so pervasive that a writer can hardly help using them.

clichés：an idea or phrase that has been used so much that it is not effective or does not have any meaning any longer陈词滥调，老生常谈，老套。  来源于法语。

14. Notice the decisions that other writers make in their choice of words and be finicky about the ones you select from the vast supply.

finicky：挑剔的，后面搭配about

15.    Master the small gradations between words that seem to be synonyms.

gradation：a small change or difference between points on a scale〔不同标度之间的〕渐变，层次，级次: 这个词很正式

16. What’s the difference between “cajole,” “wheedle,” “blandish” and “coax”

cajole：to gradually persuade someone to do something by being nice to them, or making promises to them

wheedle：If you say that someone wheedles, you mean that they try to persuade someone to do or give them what they want, for example by saying nice things that they do not mean.

blandish：to act or speak in a flattering or coaxing manner

coax：to persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do by talking to them in a kind, gentle, and patient way

17. E. B. White makes the case cogently in The Elements of Style

cogent的意思是有说服力的;令人信服的

二 summary

Chapter 5 talks about the audience of writing. Writers needn't  grab some  certain readers' attention  to change their works. Writers should write for themselves. Good writers are visible behind the words. The essence of writing is humanity and warmth. As a writer, you shouldn't curry favor with anyone. Chapter 6 talks about the words of writing. Clichés should be avoided.  While, we should bear in mind how the word sound when  choosing words.